I've had Sandy now for 2 weeks. He's a corgi mix and I got him the same place Magnolia came from. He's definitely from different circumstances than her as he likes going for leashed walks and he obviously has come from a home that trained him on the basics. Sandy has been an easy and quick fit into our home. The one concern has been that I put him on a good quality dry dog food diet (chicken meal, brown rice and other good things, no soy or corn) and he immediately had diarrhea as you would expect so I gave him the food + pumpkin and that helped right away. But as soon as I stopped the pumpkin the diarrhea came back now and again, I think when he was given treats, even rawhide. He has horrendous gas too regardless of the diarrhea. His skin is becoming normal looking now but when I got him it was rather dark pink and flaking. I'm wondering if this fellow might have food allergies.

So I mention this to the vet when I took him in to get his stitches removed the other day and was instructed to feed him, after a 24 hour fast, hamburger (I used ground turkey) and rice for 3 days, only a small amount. Well this did not go over well with Sandy. He's not what I would call a big eater but he was hungry. He has been barely pooping given the fast and the small amount of food he has eaten but he did not have diarrhea. It is now Day 2 of the rice and burger diet so I gave him a bowlful of food which seems to have satisfied him more.

I will be taking in a stool sample to the vet tomorrow to rule out parasites but I'm thinking it could be allergies to what he is eating. The vet also mentioned seasonal allergies but I'm not sure that would cause diarrhea.

Does anyone have experience with food allergies?

Just want to add how comparatively unusual true food allergies are in dogs, regardless of the eleven zillion "allergy" foods and regardless of what many GP vets and owners think first ("food allergies; switch the food").

Food allergies are less than 10% of dogs' allergies, to put it in perspective.

Duh, I didn't realize there was a General Health section, sorry.

When I first got him his skin was really dark pink and flaky all over really but more so on his back. No broken skin but he did smell bad. I wasn't supposed to bath him for 10 days but I had to because he reeked. He would scratch his belly with his hind legs, more before than he does now. I bathed him and switched his diet and he seems better with the scratching but he still scratches. His skin is more of a light pinky white now, no flaking. I have used Revolution on him as well.

The diarrhea is more often pudding, when I first got him it was watery but I attributed that to the dramatic change in diet. They were feeding the dogs at the rescue Dog Chow, I know it's not the best diet but given they don't have much money I don't blame them. When I brought Magnolia home she had diarrhea too but it went away in a few days and she's doing very well on the same food as Sandy eats now.

The dry food list of ingredients is as follows:
chicken meal, chicken, brown rice, oatmeal, dehulled barley, chicken fat, tomatoes, dried egg, herring meal, flax seed, salmon oil, brewers yeast, sweet potatoes, blueberries, carrots, cranberries, apples, various minerals and vitamins too long to type, probiotics (4 different ones, yucca schidegera, dried rosemary

Interestingly the yucca is supposed to reduce fecal odour but it doesn't seem to work.

Sandy pooped this morning and it was not really firm but not pudding either so I feel the rice diet is helping. Normally he will poop almost as often as he pees, so the food is coming out faster than it should. Since being on this rice diet he isn't pooping as much or as often. His bad gas is noticeably less now but I smelt him this morning. Here's hoping Day 3 is an improvement over Day 2 which was not bad considering.

The beginning of Day 3 or 2.5 because I started the rice diet late on Saturday. He finally pooped around 11am which is very late for him, he will normally go first thing. Both dogs did not want to be outside this morning for some reason, they had no interest in going to the bathroom and just wanted to go inside asap - not like either of them. They were keen on getting out as per usual but once out there something bothered them and they just refused to walk much. They could smell something. When they came inside they were acting weird and just sat there quietly instead of running around.
I took Sandy out by himself later and he finally went. His poop started out as firm but then became a thick pudding consistency. I had hoped he would have been "normal" at this point so I guess a trip to the vet with a poop sample will be on the "To Do" List tomorrow.

Yes, that is PC Nutrition 1st but I didn't think Americans would know that brand. The yucca and rosemary are the last ingredients in the recipe so very minimal and I agree about the probiotics. Although I feel this is a very good formula for the price I guess they feel they have to add stuff to amp up the marketing aspect, although I KNOW just because it's on the list of ingredients doesn't really mean much when the amounts could be negligible. I used to work for a pet food company and I know they would add this or that because it was the latest fad ingredient that everyone was adding but the amounts in the formula were just there for show, not enough to have any real health benefits.

Sandy is approx. 3 years old, they based that on his teeth.

I've been feeding him twice a day the rice and he has been eating it but typically he didn't want to eat more of the kibble. Neither dogs are big eaters which is bizarre for me since my last dog was a yellow lab and could eat all day if she was allowed to.
I haven't added calcium since I assumed this would only be a 3 day thing.

His gas was several times a day when on the kibble, now it is maybe an hour after he eats and not as pungent.

Today I have to take in a poop sample and Sandy immediately delivered first thing, almost firm too. I am almost hoping this is going to be parasites and easily fixed.

I noticed last night that he hasn't been scratching. When I first got him he had an almost ongoing curious habit of stretching out and rubbing his belly back and forth on the grass or carpet and he hasn't done that much since I got him. He hasn't scratched his belly with his hind feet either since being on the rice diet. The rice diet kind of coincided with a dose of Revolution too so I guess it could a number of reasons.

I guess I'll see what the tests come back as to determine what to do next. I made up another pot of rice though last night LOL

"I guess I'll see what the tests come back as to determine what to do next. I made up another pot of rice though last night LOL "


Good step!

I too wouldn't make any fast changes (or any changes at all quite yet).

No parasites - so now I'm back to square 1. Sandy pooped again a few hours later and it was pudding, not firm He's getting tired of rice too and didn't want to finish his breakfast, he's been picking at it throughout the day though but still some left.

What did the vet recommend for your next step?

Along the same line, what tests were done? Do you have the invoice with the line items?

Here's why I am asking: A common off-and-on symptom of giardiasis is loss of appetite. Smelly gas and/or smelly diarrhea can be, too.

The diarrhea from it can be anything from none at all to explosive water, and everything in between. Also, it can seem to clear up and then recur with physical stress (or with no apparent trigger). IOW, it can be confusingly intermittent for months (and longer).

It is not simple to diagnose, and a negative poop report from the fecal flotation test does not rule out giardia. Fecal sample diagnosis is complicated by the fact that even a severe case does not produce cysts in every poop.

The most accurate is when every single poop for 72 hours is collected and tested. Almost as accurate is when three separate poops, each two days apart, are collected and tested. (Fresh is very important with giardia.) I've read that the three-poop fecal flotation protocol is 90% accurate. (The single-poop exam is very unreliable; I've read 50% to 70% accurate, with many false negatives.)

The new (2004, I think) fecal ELISA test, to my understanding, is far more accurate. Is there something called "ELISA" or "SNAP" on your bill?


I'm harping on this because of the inappetance. Until you mentioned that, I was thinking of possible overfeeding per meal (why I asked how many meals per day) or a rapid switch to a richer food.

Too much food at one meal is very often the diarrhea trigger, easily fixed with a short fast and then small frequent soothing meals while the gut calms down.

But you are describing what might be giardia symptoms.


Here is a pretty good overview:
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2102&aid=739

Also:
http://www.westvillagevets.com/files/pdf/Giardia_for_Blue_Book_by_Dr._Burns.pdf

But more important is, what did the vet say? Was any suggestion made to treat for giardia?

Let's hope Dr. Betty sees this.




eta: All JMO. I am not a health professional.

Edited by Connie Sutherland (09/07/2011 05:52 PM)
Edit reason: eta